TRANSPORTATION

By Air

Scheduled international flights arrive only at the capital, Prague, at the international airport Rezone, which is connected worldwide by at least 2 dozen international carriers, including CSA (Ceske aerolinie), the old state-run airline. CSA also offers internal flights to Brno, Ostrava and to the Slovak republic (Bratislava, Poprad, Kosice).

However, it might be faster to rent a car (self-drive or with a chauffeur) to travel within the Czech Republic.
The Ruzyne airport is located approximately 20 km north-west of the town centre. The transfer time (bus, taxi, shuttle bus) is approximately 30 minutes. The airport presents itself very modern after a complete renovation during the last few years. It was also extended by one terminal.

By Bus

A relatively dense network of bus transportation between towns and other locations within the Czech Republic is available, as well as long distance coaches to other countries, provided by the Czech state-owned but also several private coach-companies.

There are 2 main companies serving the Czech Republic network: CSAD (Ceská automobilová doprava) and somewhat smaller Cebus. Cebus serves mainly fast motorway routes between Prague, Brno, Karlovy Vary and Liberec.

By Train

The train is the easiest (if not the cheapest) way to get from Western Europe to the Czech Republic. There are some 18 rail crossings into the Republic and it has one of the most extensive railway networks in Europe.

You can reach almost every small town by rail and trains are indeed a romantic way of traveling around the country. Travel can be rather slow, however, often involving several changes. The quickest way of traveling along the major lines are the expres or rychlík trains. Local trains osobní vlak stop everywhere and are very cheap. Somewhat faster are services called spešný vlak which stop less often but cost the same as local trains.

By Car

By road, visitors can enter the Republic at over 30 points and the list is growing all the time. It is advisable in order to avoid fines, to obtain a window decal, which you can buy in petrol stations to allow legal driving on the highways for a 10-day period.

Statistically, Czech are some of the worst drivers in Europe. The main problems are excessive speeding and passing on blind corners are the main problems. Please keep this in mind when you hit the road!

Renting a car is the best way of exploring the country or for making daytrips from Prague.

A variety of local and foreign car-hire companies offer their services in the Czech Republic. A range of different categories and types of cars are available.

The Czech Republic is covered by a network of generally good roads, though they often follow old routes through villages and small towns. There are hundreds of kilometers of European-style motorways.

By Water

River transport is of small importance in the Czech Republic. Between the months of April and October on lakes and rivers (Vltava, Elbe) regular boat-traffic schedules are offered.